Masked men filmed threatening and terrorizing trapped car full of people from Standing Rock

In the New York Daily News this Friday, Shaun King reported on a piece of video that allegedly shows masked men harassing and terrorizing a car full of men from Standing Rock.

According to King, in the parking lot of a Ramada Inn in Bismarck, N.D. this Monday, “two white men in masks violently confronted a car driven by men from Standing Rock.” When the men attempted to leave, they realized they were deliberately boxed in by cars in front and in back of them.

https://twitter.com/ShaunKing/status/807295020105547776

This isn’t harmless mischief, it’s terrorism. Partly because of the Facebook Live video filmed by one of the passengers in the car, the Bismarck Police Department just arrested one person, 33-year-old Jesse McLain, who was involved in the incident. While police have not said if McLain was one of the drivers, or planned it out, he was allegedly one of the two masked men yelling.

The following Thursday, a similar incident occurred where three indigenous people were driving and were chased by a pickup and masked men on snowmobiles.

In each instance, the indigenous men were overwhelmingly courteous, peaceful and patient while the white men were the lone aggressors.

King compares the confrontations to those in the past between the KKK and civil rights activists. saying that masked white men have “for over 100 years, targeted and terrorized people of color using eerily similar methods.”

Dr. King and many leaders openly spoke of being followed and confronted on dark roadways in the Jim Crow South. Vehicles would regularly be boxed in to make escaping difficult. Freedom Riders James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner were confronted, kidnapped, and killed on such a dark Mississippi roadway in the summer of 1964.

These indigenous men who were confronted Thursday could’ve easily crashed and died as a result of that dangerous confrontation, and their names would’ve become etched in stone like the martyrs of racial violence from another era.

Regarding the Monday incident at the hotel, the Bismarck Police Department arrested one person, 33-year-old Jesse McLain. Police say he was allegedly one of the two masked men yelling.

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Jesse D. McLain (Bismark Police Department)

Watch FB Live video of passengers from the Monday incident below:

Featured image via Twitter/YouTube

Sky Palma

Before launching DeadState back in 2012, Sky Palma has been blogging about politics, social issues and religion for over a decade. He lives in Los Angeles and also enjoys Brazilian jiu jitsu, chess, music and art.

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